Salvage Station: The Resistance (Escape from Club Apophis, 49)

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STORYLINE: "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kyra gripped Romance’s arm.

Romance stopped at the heavy iron hatch leading down into the Resistance headquarters. "Relax. Neither of us is easy to kill. You don’t win wars by playing it like a mortal."

He brought the thick heel of his combat boot down hard on the rusted metal. The booming impact echoed into the vast, hollow chamber beneath them.

Kyra’s grip tightened, her metal knuckles glinting in the dim light. "Do you think they’ll know where Lisa is?"

"Definitely." He paused, looking at her worried face. "Maybe. No. Yes. If anyone does, they will."

The hatch groaned open, spilling pale yellow light across the mud like an invitation into a grave. This was the first time he had entered feeling like his true self, rather than just playing a role.

As they descended the metal ladder into the subterranean office, the air grew thick with the smell of mold, burnt coffee, and old paper. Condensation ran down the concrete walls, and water dripped somewhere unseen in the dark. The tunnel vibrated as a sonic hover train raced by on the surface above, rattling the buzzing fluorescent lights. The sound of Echo’s voice hit them immediately.

"But if the barrier operates on a closed frequency, couldn't we theoretically invert the signal? Or what if we bypassed the main junction completely?" Echo was pacing furiously in front of a desk covered in blueprints, firing questions in rapid, relentless succession. Romance noted how the weakest member of the Jae Won team now seemed like a tiger, already bloody from battle. He wondered what had changed her.

Behind the desk, Hwan rubbed his temples, exhausted. Hwan used to look like a man who could disappear into a crowd. Now the Resistance clung to him like heavy chains. Romance had watched him spend months moving people, supplies, and secrets into place, trying to outplay monsters who had been cheating for a thousand years.

Hwan's office was cobbled together from salvaged junk. Used coffee cups littered every surface. The trashcan overflowed with them. Stacks of maps covered the desk. Diagrams plastered the walls next to a calendar detailing human ration lists. Hand-bound ledgers crammed the shelves, carefully labeled with the name of every person who had gone missing in The Pen. There were even crayon drawings by children tacked with love onto the side of a rusted filing cabinet.

Romance looked away before Hwan caught him staring at the drawings. He leaned back against the concrete wall, folding his arms and watching with deep amusement as Hwan shot him a desperate, pleading look for help.

Echo froze mid-sentence and spun around. She gasped.

His sleek, elegant K-pop idol aesthetic was completely gone, replaced by a street-level nightmare straight out of the badlands. Gone were the immaculate designer suits and the polished, practiced smile. He had styled himself like someone who slept in abandoned train stations and started fires to stay warm. The Resistance was his tribe. It felt good to finally express his rage. His spiked hair defied gravity, and his heavy fur-lined coat was painted with black graffiti that read: Power is not given, it’s taken.

"Whoa. You look different," Echo breathed.

Romance chuckled, a low, rasping sound. He could say the exact same about her. "I’m done pretending."

Echo tilted her head, trying to process the shift, before her eyes darted to the figure shrinking behind him. "Is that you, Kyra?"

Kyra nodded, stepping out from the shadow of Romance's heavy coat. “I’m repaired. Thanks to Romance."

Romance found her quietness strangely endearing. Gone was the malfunctioning cybernetic cheerleader he had purchased at the auction. Faint brass gears ticked visibly beneath the synthetic skin of her neck, and heavy, industrial copper wiring snaked along her collarbone. She looked raw, sturdy, and unmistakably analog. A work of art.

Romance squeezed her hand gently, his thumb brushing her carbon fiber palm. For all that she had survived, he felt the immense weight in her grip. And it was warm. His eyes softened when he looked at her.

Echo looked from Kyra to Romance, then back to Kyra. Romance knew exactly how they must look to her. They were no longer an idol and a toy. They looked like a couple forged in a warzone.

Kyra avoided Echo’s gaze for a second, then looked up long enough to notice the swollen brand across the girl's chest. Her smile faltered. "Are you hurt?"

Echo's hand instinctively pulled the shirt closed.

Romance recognized the gesture immediately. She wasn't trying to hide the wound. She was trying to hide what it would do to everyone else.

"Yes," Echo admitted. "The Resistance had medicine to help me. It doesn't sting as bad now."

Hwan cleared his throat loudly.

The room's attention shifted back to the desk.

"As I was trying to explain to Echo," Hwan said, tapping a heavy finger against a map of the city. "Long before Monstrum arrived, this land already had its own supernatural people. We lost the war against the invaders. Monstrum formed a pact with the government. All supernaturals were imprisoned in the Forbidden Zone. Monstrum claimed the Forbidden Zone as sovereign territory. In exchange for solving the rogue monster problem, Monstrum was given endless business opportunities in the human world."

Echo furrowed her brow, her logic snagging on the details. "But I’ve seen MasterGin, Romance, and you move outside the zone."

Hwan sighed and looked at Romance to explain.

Poor Hwan. He must have been answering questions like this all day.

Alright, Romance thought. I will help on this. He dug into his coat pocket and slapped a sleek, black passport onto the desk. A serpent swallowing the sun was embossed on the cover. "There are exceptions for the Zone elites and management. As for the Jeoseung Saja, like myself, we are too important to cage. Without us, Wandering Ghosts would flood the human world. We get free passage as long as we only guide souls and never consume them." Romance flashed a wicked, sharp-toothed grin. "But we didn’t make any promises about not eating Monstrum."

He licked his lips and winked, his eyes shiny with mischief. There was one asshole in particular he was going to relish.

"Are there any further questions?" Hwan added dryly. He looked at the cracked concrete ceiling, silently praying there were not.

Echo ignored him, turning her focus entirely to Kyra. "Are you okay? I mean, really?"

Kyra nodded. She patted her side, where the faint, rhythmic ticking of clockwork could be heard. "Analog power source. The Zone can't touch it. I'm not running on their energy anymore." She looked up, her quiet voice turning urgent. "Do you know where Lisa is?"

"No," Echo said. "But I know where we are all supposed to meet back up."

Romance pushed off the wall. Hwan straightened up from his maps. Both of them were suddenly very interested.

"All the students of Jae Won are planning to attack the ceremony?" Hwan asked.

"Well, we don’t exactly have a plan. Or we didn’t before we scattered. But we are supposed to reunite at the Safe Zone."

Hwan sat very still for a moment.

"The Sewer Safe Zone." He stood up abruptly and grabbed his heavy jacket from the back of his chair. "I know the place. Follow me."

He paused, his hand freezing on the collar of his coat. He turned back slowly and placed a heavy palm on Romance’s shoulder. "Actually, no. I am sorry. You stay here and wait. There is something down there you should not see."

Romance searched his friend’s face, his punk bravado dropping into genuine shock. "I’m not staying here. What are you trying to hide from me, old Dokkaebi?"

Echo made a soft sound, drawing their attention. She reached into her pocket. "I think he means this. I’m certain this letter was meant for you."

Romance looked from Hwan to Echo. Then back again. Something inside him went cold.

Echo held it out further.

Romance forced a puzzled smile. He tried to brush it off dismissively.

Then he noticed that neither Echo nor Hwan was smiling.

The fluorescent lights buzzed into the silence.

His smile faded.

He snatched the folded paper from her hand and began to read.

The cocky smirk vanished completely. His jaw tightened. His gold eyes scanned back and forth across the page, going wide. His next breath never came. The paper trembled softly between his fingers.

A flash of Sophia dumping water on his head, her laugh so infectious. He had never loved her more than in that moment.

Echo reached out, gently touching his hand. “I’m so sorry. Sophia’s body is where we are going."

The paper stopped trembling.

Somewhere above them, another hover train roared overhead.

The room suddenly felt impossibly quiet.

On him, Romance:

Jacket, belt: Oracle - Armageddon Jacket, Belt, LegacyA, yellow [mesh](Salvage Station)(299L)

Necklace: SIGMA - Spike necklace [Unskinned M][mesh](Salvage Station)(320L)

Hair: TRASH - Ignite Hair - Fatpack [mesh](Salvage Station)(1000L)

Earrings: BADa - Cross B Earrings [mesh]

Nose Chain: Garmonbozia - Write me - Nose Chain - Black [mesh]

Goggles: MILKBATH - Axel Goggles - Unrigged [mesh](399L)

Tongue: The DeadBoy Narius Tongue (Bento)[mesh](699L)

Collar: Artificial Hallucination +AH+ Misaki Collar M [mesh](349L)

Piercings: STOIC - HEART DERMAL PIERCING SILVER [mesh]

Pants: AVEC TOI Kai Pants, Turmoil, LegacyM [mesh](595L)

Boots: L&B Swear Havoc Ops Boots, LegacyM, Black [mesh](499L)

Brooch: Schelm - 2.Devil Heart Straight Barbell [mesh]

Waist Piercing: SOLIAC - Waist Piercing - LEGACY M ATHLETIC [mesh]

Eyes: Gloom - Savage Fantasy Collection - Sclera 03 - Yellow M [BOM]

Tattoos: HISS - PATTERNS FACE ROMANCE [BOM](250L)

Head: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: Le Poppycock - Hip hop hooray

On her, Kyra:

Mask: Waffle Science & Research Lab - [W] Dental Phantom [mesh](Salvage Station)(499L)

Cap: KROVA - PILOTKA [mesh](Salvage Station)(499L)

Bodysuit: Eudora3D - Harker BodySuit Legacy, set 2 [mesh](Salvage Station)(225L)

Boots: Eudora3D - Harker Boots, set 2 [mesh](Salvage Station)(225L)

Pouch: Blue Blood - Witch Survival Pouch - Legacy F [mesh](Salvage Station)(149L)

Tattoo: RaptorJenny - Mk4 / Stain, Neck fade [BOM](Salvage Station)(349L)

Hair: MINA Hair - Echo [mesh]

Collar: Naberius - Untamed Collar [mesh]

Skin, tattoos: SOMEONE - Machina NOVA, Gold [mesh](1000L)

Head, eyes: LeLUTKA - lel EvoX LILLY 3.1 [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - Meshbody Legacy (f) Special Edition (Basic) 1.2 [mesh]

Pose: Stiff Pose - SPGF15P1

Setting:

Bedroom: Eclectica - Wasteland bedroom set[mesh](Salvage Station)(850L)

Suitcases: Eclectica - Vintage Suitcases [mesh](Salvage Station)(75L)

Floor Screens: Eclectica - Wasteland Floor Screens [mesh](Salvage Station)(120L)

Bedroom: Eclectica - Wasteland Bucket- yellow [mesh]

Hatch: Bykee - The Nowhere Co. Hatch [mesh](Salvage Station)(349L)

Hanging Lamp: Bykee - The Nowhere Co. - Lamp [mesh](Salvage Station)(249L)

Flowers: Blue Blood - Irradiated Petunias FATPACK [mesh](Salvage Station)(399L)

Bunker: FallenGods - BW BUNKER 313  [mesh](Salvage Station)(890L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky:

Engine Room: The Jellyfish Man (Escape from Club Apophis, 39)

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STORYLINE:    This was a heist. 

Which meant, statistically speaking, Plague was either about to become a legend, or a cautionary tale with excellent hair.

Finally, he was inside MasterGin’s clinic, the Fort Knox of DNA rewrite voodoo, and he, the Biohacker of Jae Won University, was about to steal it. 

In and out. Cure Jihoon. Fix himself. Save the world. In that order. …More or less. 

And if history wanted to throw in fame and glory, he wasn’t going to argue.

He came prepared. His parents thought that six-thousand-credit charge was for lab equipment. Please. Six thousand credits didn’t buy microscopes. It bought bad decisions with excellent specs.

In this case: a nanotech cloak blanket. Perfect for black ops. Terrible for subtle life choices. The enforcers hadn’t seen him at all. They were too busy chasing Kyle, Minjo, Echo, and Lisa.

Unlike them, he actually knew what to look for. Infrastructure. More specifically, signs of a negative pressure room.

He darted down another hallway, deeper into the labyrinth. 

The Plastic Surgery Clinic wasn’t a clinic at all. More like a villain origin story with a lobby. Polished floors, museum lighting, the kind of place where ethics go to get redesigned. He had no time to marvel at billion-dollar artwork, which genuinely pained him. The clock was ticking.

He took a stairwell downwards. Posh tunnels gave way to older tunnels, gleaming marble replaced by cement with all the charm of a decaying bomb shelter.

His foot hit water. The splash cracked through the hallway like a jump scare with no soundtrack to soften it.

Shit. He glanced around.

The corridor held its breath. So did he.

The pool of water he was standing in had a faint bioluminescence glow. It had leaked from under a sealed door with lots of unfriendly symbols that all translated, across every language known to man, into one simple message: ‘Do not be the idiot who opens this door.’

Jackpot.

He licked his lips. He could almost taste that Nobel Prize.

He produced a bypass kit, popped in a cursed energy battery courtesy of Sophia, and went to work on the door panel. The lock mechanism, however, was old. Older than he expected. Not smart-lock. Analog. Physical tumblers.

He switched tools. His hands steady, remembering things his formal education hadn't taught him, like how to pick a school locker.

Click.

The door swung open as if moved by an unseen hand.

Very Haunted House. Three stars. Too cliché.

The dark laboratory was state-of-the-art… if the state in question was 1960s and deeply unethical. The air around him felt damp, like breathing through someone else’s lungs. The smell hit next. Formaldehyde. And something that had been alive too long. The equipment bore the heavy scars of relentless use. His fingers touched a keyboard with the characters of “A” and “S” completely worn down.

From tanks holding something segmented and glowing, a sickening green light cast shadows on the walls as it writhed.

Not touching that. Not even academically.

He pulled off the cloak and paused at an old-school computer. The black DOS screen, with a single lime green blinking box, waited for him to type code.

…Right. He wasn’t that kind of nerd. Filing cabinet it was.

Drawers. Stacks. Paper everywhere. Useless. Too slow. He suddenly missed computers.

Something moved behind him. Not a step. Not a breath. …a slosh.

Shit. Please don’t be something glowing and legally classified as ‘should not have legs.’

He turned, looking for anything slithering.

Two transparent feet, outlined in a faint glow, stood directly behind him. A trail of wet footsteps led back to a massive, bubbling tank.

His heart stopped. Fantastic. Cardiac arrest in a haunted aquarium.

His gaze tracked slowly up.

A translucent man, built of something like jellyfish flesh, stared right at him. “Who are you?” he asked in a gurgling human voice.

Not a hologram. Not a projection. The nightmare was… wet.

Plague stared at his transparent body as if hypnotized. He could see liquids moving through his veins. Faint electrical sparks across the transparent mass of his brain.

“Forgive me,” the Jellyfish Man said. He put on a white lab coat, gloves, and sprinkled white powder over his head, until it resembled a sculpture. “I get so few visitors here. I forgot my manners.”

Of course he had a lab coat. Of course the nightmare had dress code compliance.

“I’ve seen this movie before.” Plague willed his voice to sound steady. “The Invisible Man, 1933. Overrated.”

The Jellyfish Man extended a gloved hand, “I’m Dr. Hoshu Tanaka.”

Plague shook his head in disbelief. Dr. Hoshu Tanaka. Founding father of DNA rewrite research. The man who wrote the rules, and then vanished from the game entirely.

“No, you’re not.” He switched to Japanese. “Dr. Tanaka died a long time ago.”

The Jellyfish Man nodded his head and sat down on a stool. “I see. You know who I am. You are sneaking around. You have a kit for breaking into secure places. That means you’re here for only one thing, …to steal my research.”

Plague took two steps back, subtly checking the seals of the bio-containment suit. The air felt wrong. Too thick. Like he’d already been breathing it too long.

“No, I’m just…” he gestured vaguely “… a low-paid, highly under-appreciated intern. You’d be amazed what HR lets through.”

“You are a terrible liar,” Dr. Tanaka chuckled. “You are aware,” he said gently, pointing to the open door, “That warning was mine. I put it there. It was not a decoration.”

Plague continued to back away. “If you touch me, I get infected right? Be honest. Are you venomous, contagious, or… both?”

“Contact transmission. Airborne spores require a 10-minute exposure.” Dr. Tanaka nodded and began to text on a halo pad, “I am writing Nurse Paine to let her know I am not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening.” He touched a button on an old control panel. The door closed and sealed back into place. “…at least from threats outside.”

Sweat dripped down Plague’s back.

Dr. Tanaka set the pad down and focused on him. Not like a person. Like data.

“Now,” he said, folding his hands, “Let us begin a fair trade of information. Tell me who you are and how you know my name. Then I might tell you where the decontamination unit is.”

Plague's eyes swept the room for another exit. Condensation dripped down the glass of a nearby pod. When he neared it, a pale worm, thick as his wrist, struck the glass with a sound like a wet slap. It gave him flashbacks to things he would absolutely deny ever reading.

Plague’s shoulders sagged. He turned back to the aquarium's sole resident, “The name’s Plague.” He gave a small shrug. “Marketing.”

“That’s not a name. Your only way out is a fair trade of information.”

Plague paused for a long while, studying the powder-covered face. He resembled Dr. Tanaka. Or something that used to be him.

Plague kept a safe distance from everything that glowed.

“All right then," he said, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his bio-containment suit. “We may or may not have a few things in common. But that depends on how you became transparent. You did a bio-hack on yourself?”

Dr. Tanaka’s eyebrow raised. He looked at the suit for a long moment. “I see. You are a DNA Hacker.” He pointed to Plague’s chest. “Experimenting on yourself was foolish. And now you are here to steal my technology to save yourself. Am I right?”

Plague chuckled and buttoned up. “Righteous indignation. So then. Your transparent-hood was an accident. Spores or contact?” His eyes swept the lab. All those glowing things. All of them eager to be near him.

“Worse,” Dr. Tanaka’s voice dropped. His gaze lowered.

A chill raced across Plague.

The lab hummed around them. Neither moved.

Dr. Tanaka then stood and glanced at the largest tank. “I live mostly in that tank now. I killed the parasite. Eventually. Before it could finish rewriting my DNA… before my mind was lost. But I exist like this now. Something inhuman. I can never go home. I can never see my wife and child. It’s better they believe what the world believes.”

Plague’s heart quivered. His hands went still. He looked at the large tank. Then at his own chest where the bio-containment suit pressed against his ribs.

“My work is what remains of me now,” the Doctor continued. “I chose to give my tragedy meaning by understanding how the creature rewrites its host’s DNA without rejection.”

“How long ago?” Plague's voice cracked on the question. He cleared his throat. “How long ago did you solve it?”

The lab answered for him. Nothing.

Plague studied the tanks. The Doctor. The powdered coat. The worn-down keyboard keys. Years of research, typed by hands that were no longer hands.

"That's how MasterGin's plastic surgery works, isn't it? MasterGin isn't reshaping people's bodies with surgery, drugs, or augments. He's infecting them with these... things, then altering them while their bodies are malleable. Your research is the off switch, stopping the process before they turn into monsters.”

Dr. Tanaka pointed to the far corner. “The decontamination unit is over there. You have about 5 minutes left before infection.”

Plague bolted towards the unit, then turned back to look at the Doctor. “I could get your life’s work out there, in the real world. Full credit for your discovery. I swear it. Your sacrifice…” His throat became tight. “I mean, your work should be out there helping people. Not locked in here being used by monsters.” He only noticed the tears when they hit his chin.

Dr. Tanaka’s expression was unreadable. “Three minutes. Or this conversation was meaningless.”

“I’ll come back for you.” Plague turned and ran.

He hit the decon unit at full speed.

An automated voice chimed overhead, “Decontamination Process initiated.”

The doors air-locked around him as he quickly stripped down to bare skin.

Through the glass, the Doctor studied what the suit had been hiding, his grotesque deformities. He didn't look away as a cloud of formaldehyde and chemicals enveloped Plague.

When the cycle had finally ended, Plague quickly pulled on his sterilized bio-containment suit and glanced outside. The Doctor had already submerged in his tank.

A green light pulsed through the dissipating haze. He stepped closer and saw a small decontamination transfer unit mounted on the wall, designed to safely move items from the lab to the outside. The case was bathed in just as many chemicals as he was, traces of haze still swirled around it.

He opened the hatch. Inside were several items. A gold VIP serpent brooch. He’d seen that on Nurse Paine’s collar. VIP clearance. A way out. And that wasn’t the only surprising thing. There was a meticulously pre-packed decontamination travel kit. Absurdly so, given the lab had just let him walk in with a school locker pick. Was this meant for Tanaka? An escape that never happened? He didn't have time to understand all of it. More items in the case were a data chip and an ornate gilded crystal bottle labeled GIN AESTHETICA™. The Doctor's formula. Someone else's logo. Inside, a soft blue glowing lotion simmered, smelling faintly of antiseptic and something he couldn't classify.

There was a note in precise handwriting: ‘For the one who returns.’

Plague stared at it.

He quickly pocketed the brooch, sealed the case, and darted for the VIP tunnels without looking back.


This post was inspired by my ongoing series, and super cool mad lab themed items at The Engine Room.   From Somnium is the Scientist's Coat. The Fatpack has a hud to change textures for the coat, shirt, and tie. All textures are PBR with a latex look, handy for dealing with messy creatures. lol.  ...From DeadBoy is 8 fingered stabby gloves, -- the Toxic Touch Gloves, for men and women. It comes with a hud to change the latex glove color, straps, and suspicious liquids in the syringe.   ...From NI.JI are the Rimless Glasses.  These are PBR glasses with many texture options for the lens and frame. It's mod, so you can scale and position for the perfect fit.   ...From Waffle Science Lab is the Artificial Mastermind consoles. I love these things. It has that retro NASA vibe to me. Just touch the consoles to change the metal color, panel, and base colors. They are mod, so you can move and scale how you like.   ... From Dirty Rat is the Manipulator sculpture, perfect for the desk of any serious mad scientist.   ...From ND Design is build from the recent Cyber Fair. It's two stories with stacks of mainframes, tanks with aliens, and a hatch that opens. It comes with a Rez box. The set is mod so you can move things around or tint. I created a bit more of a military lab look with tints, and a metal PBR floor.

On him, Plague:

Outfit:  SOMNIUM - Scientist's Coat - Fat Pack - Legacy M/A PBR [mesh](Engine Room)(2500L)

Glasses: NI.JU - Rimless Glasses [mesh](Engine Room)(325L)

Gloves: The DeadBoy - Toxic Touch Gloves (Legacy M) [mesh](Engine Room)(699L)

Scar: Cubic Cherry - Decay [BOM, Materials]

Makeup: maledictus - Lacrimosa, red [BOM]

Tattoo: Vae Victis Pillar of Inun EvoX [BOM]

Hair: Dura - U122 -A: Men's [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Setting:

Control room panels: Waffle Science Lab - Artificial Mastermind [mesh](Engine Room)(750L)

Sculpture: Dirty Rat - Manipulator [mesh](Engine Room)(385L)

Set: NSDesign - NS Exolab [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.

Midnight Order: Paine and Temptation (Escape from Club Apophis, 33)

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STORYLINE: The deal was sealed with a handshake. Disgusting.

From her station in the shadows of the greenroom, Nurse Paine watched the transaction with the cold, clinical detachment of a coroner. The handshake between her master, the divine Dr. Lucien Ginerva, and that pink-haired parasite, Romance, wasn’t just a business agreement. It was an infection.

“You look thin. Bring your best face to the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony. Drink ten years,” MasterGin purred, releasing the idol’s hand.

Paine tried to hide her smirk. Ten years. An exquisite insult.

She watched MasterGin sashay away, his tunic dissolving into the clinic light, leaving the room feeling emptier, colder. He didn’t look at her. He never did. He just left her with the mess, as he had for twenty years.

She turned her gaze to Romance. He was preening in the mirror, hair slowly turning pink, and wiping a faint smudge of soul from his lip. Life he had stolen right out on the street, in front of the clinic, under the glare of a thousand cameras.

Reckless. A liability wrapped in velvet and bad decisions. He risked the Great Work. The Monstrum. The Master himself. All for a quick hit of adoration. And for what? To save a broken cyborg girl who was destined for the scrap heap anyway?

Romance caught her staring in the reflection. He didn't look ashamed. He looked bored.

“You are walking on borrowed time, Master Romance,” Paine said, her voice dropping into the quiet, lethal register she usually reserved for uncooperative patients.

He spun the chair slowly, crossing his legs with an elegance that made her want to snap his femur.

“Aren’t we all? That’s why I’m curious.”

He leaned back, studying her with those impossible, mischief-flecked eyes. He looked at her not as a threat, but as a specimen.

“You keep his house clean. His rules intact. His miracles on schedule,” he drawled. “But you’re mortal. Spending your life in service to a monster who barely looks twice at you.”

The words struck her like a scalpel, precise and severing.

Mortal.

The word hung in the air, smelling of rot. She looked down at her white heels. They were scuffed at the toe. Scuffed from running down hallways, kicking open doors, dragging heavy, unconscious bodies into prep rooms. Scuffed from doing the dirty work while he floated above it all in a cloud of clove smoke and opera music.

She forced her head up. She would not let this glitter-covered leech see her bleed.

“My service is not for his vanity,” she lied, the words tasting like ash. “It is for the Great Work. The resurrection of the old ways.”

“The Old Ways?” Romance laughed softly, a sound that grated on her nerves like a bone saw hitting a clamp. “You mean like the Opening of the Mouth? The catering alone must be a nightmare. Let me guess… he handles the guest list, and you handle the carcass?”

Paine flinched. It was a microscopic movement, a twitch of the eyelid, but he saw it.

Carcass. That’s all Jihoon was to him. But to her? He was the clay of her master. She ensured the transition was seamless.

“The High Priestess does not complain of the weight of the knife,” she snapped, her voice rising.

“High Priestess,” Romance mused, standing up. He drifted toward her, invading her sterile field. He smelled of amber musk and freshly baked cinnamon buns. “A grand title for a janitor. You look exhausted, Paine. When was the last time you slept? Or does he keep you running on stimulants and promises?”

He stopped inches from her face. His beauty upclose undeniable.

“He treats you like furniture. Useful. Silent. Easily replaced.”

Rage, hot and white, flared in her chest. Her nails bit into her palm. *Furniture?* She was the foundation! Without her, GIN AESTHETICA™ would crumble into a heap of lawsuits and bio-waste within a week. She managed the supply lines. She silenced the inspectors. She fed the beast. 

She smoothed a wrinkle in her a pristine couture scrubs.

“Be ready,” she hissed, stepping back to put distance between her and his seductive scent. “The camera is waiting.”

She reached for the door panel, desperate to be away from him, to be back in the cold, logical embrace of her lab.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

The room washed in a sudden, pulsing crimson light.

Paine froze. Her heart rate didn't spike, it steadied. This was familiar. This was procedure.

She tapped her wrist-console. A holographic grid projected into the air, cutting through the red haze.

Sector 4. Sub-Level Maintenance. The VIP Tunnel.

Grainy night-vision footage flickered to life.

Five figures moving through the shadows. Covered in muck. Moving fast.

She squinted. The tactical gear. The girl with the camera. The boy with the glowing gloves.

The escapees.

The ones from the Pen. The ones who had caused a riot at the auction. They were here. In her house.

“Intruders,” she whispered, the word a curse. “Unauthorized biocodes detected.”

Her fingers flew across the console. This was it. The excuse she needed to vent the fury building in her veins.

“Summoning Enforcer Squad Alpha,” she announced, her thumb hovering over the execution command. “Seal the exits.”

“Wait.”

Romance stepped in front of the hologram, blocking her view.

“Don’t call the dogs yet. Look at them. They’re barely standing. Sewer rats in human clothes.”

“They are breaching the Holy Sanctum. Defiling the clinic where a God performs miracles.” Paine snarled, dodging around him to reach the icon. “Protocol demands—”

He grabbed her wrist.

The contact was electric. A fiery jolt shot through her core, ringing her like a bell.

“Look at me, Paine,” he breathed.

His eyes flared with a hypnotic, neon-pink light. The air suddenly smelled of yearning and first kisses. She felt the warmth brush her skin, syrupy and false, and she did not yield.

“You don’t want to call the guards. You want to let them pass. You’re so tired of fighting. Just... let it go.”

She felt the enchantment wash over her like a warm bath. It tugged at her thumping heart, whispered to her exhausted muscles that it was okay to rest, okay to fail, okay to just... stop.

It was a powerful spell. Against a human, it would have been absolute.

For one treacherous heartbeat, she wanted to let go.

But Paine was not just human. Not anymore.

For decades, she had taken her communion from the Master’s own vein. His blood, ancient and cursed, had rewritten her marrow. It burned like antiseptic fire in her veins, hardened her mind against the soft, sticky fingers of lower magics.

She looked at Romance. She didn't feel love. She felt insulted.

She didn't swoon. She sneered.

And then, she backhanded him.

SMACK.

It was a beautiful sound. Wet. Heavy. Final.

Romance stumbled backward, crashing into the makeup chair. He looked at her with genuine shock, clutching his bleeding lip.

“Do not insult me with your parlor tricks, Idol,” she spat, stepping over him.

She felt the change in her eyes, the iris burning red, legacy of the Master’s blood rising to the surface.

“Did you think I was mere cattle? I have supped from the Master’s own vein. His blood runs in my marrow. Your little love spells have no purchase here.”

Romance touched his lip, checking for blood. “Well,” he wheezed, straightening his jacket with a wince. “That explains the bad attitude.”

Paine ignored him. She turned back to the screen, zooming in on the feed.

Minjo. The robotics girl. She was dismantling a security camera with a multitool. The movements were precise, practiced. Familiar.

Paine’s mind raced. How did they get past the outer sensors? How did they know the tunnel layout?

Romance.

She whirled on him, pressing a scalpel-sharp fingernail into the expensive fabric of his lapel.

“You’re running a ratline,” she accused, her voice a low growl. “The smuggler in the Zone. It was you.”

He opened his mouth, but she silenced him with a look.

“And Sister Sophia,” she whispered, the name tasting bitter. “I will never stop looking for her. Our fellowship is broken without her. Did you make her disappear too?”

Romance slapped her hand away. The playful mask cracked, revealing something sharp and angry underneath.

“She died trying to save the world from monsters like you."

The name hit her like a physical blow. The air left her lungs. Sophia... dead? The possibility had always been a whisper in the back of her mind, a cold dread she refused to acknowledge. Hearing it spoken aloud shattered the fragile hope she’d carried for two years.

He pointed at the screen, at the dirty, desperate kids crawling through the pipes.

“They aren’t assassins, Paine. They’re children. They’re just here for the boy. Jihoon.”

“The Chosen One,” Paine corrected automatically as if it were scripture. “And…,” hurt leaked into her voice, “we were all born under the same star.”

“You mean you’re all born the same year?” Romance laughed softly, “Wow. Evil has aged you.”

She ground her teeth, and looked back at the screen.

The red-haired girl moved with surgical intent. She wiped slime from her face. The boy with the gloves helped the reporter over a pipe. They were terrified. They were filthy.

And they were walking straight into a meat grinder.

The Enforcers were stationed at the end of that corridor. Heavily armed. Hungry. If she let the alarm stand, those kids would be shredded in less than three minutes.

Paine looked at the red button.

If she pressed it, she did her duty. She protected the Master. She upheld the order.

But then... she looked at Romance. The "ratline." He was helping them. undermining the Master right under his nose.

*He treats you like furniture. Useful. Silent. Easily replaced.*

The words echoed in her skull.

Why should she clean up this mess? Why should she call the guards and let them have all the fun?

If these kids were smart enough to break into the Zone, survive the sewers, and breach the Sanctum... perhaps they were interesting. Perhaps they deserved a test.

And if they failed? Well, The Opening of the Mouth always drew hungry guests.

Paine lowered her hand. A thought, cold and calculating, formed in her mind. She watched the live feed collapse into static. She had already purged the archive. The system would remember nothing.

“The Master believes his security is absolute,” she murmured. “He believes no human can touch him.”

She looked at her scuffed heels. Then at the alarm.

“Let’s see if he’s right.”

She tapped the console.

ALARM CANCELED.

She keyed the comms line, her voice shifting instantly into her bored, administrative tone.

“Control, this is Paine. Belay that order. False alarm in Sector 4. Sensors are tripping on sewer rats chewing the power cables again. I will go down and verify the damage personally.”

“Copy that, Nurse Paine,” the radio crackled. “Standing down.”

The red light died.

Romance stared at her, his jaw hanging slightly open. “Why?”

Paine walked to the medical cabinet. She unlocked it with a thumbprint. The heavy, chrome bone-saw gleamed in the light. Beside it, a syringe of paralytic neurotoxin.

She slid them into the deep pockets of her pristine white coat.

“Because if they are competent enough to breach the outer wall, they deserve an audience,” she said, checking the weight of the saw in her pocket. “And if they are not… the ghouls will eat well tonight.”

She walked to the door, pausing to look back at him.

“Get to the studio, Romance. Smile for the camera. Sell the lie. Do what you were bought to do.”

“And you?” he asked.

Paine smiled. It wasn't a nice smile.

“I have a mess to clean up.”

She swept out of the room, her heels clicking a sharp, solitary rhythm down the hall. Let the Master play with celebrities and haute couture.

The Master demanded order. But tonight, it was Paine who would become chaos.

Midnight Order is ending soon. Be sure to return for new items added, and if you missed any generious gifts.   ...DJ Romance returns sporting some K-pop Demon awesomeness. His edgy outfit is by Dope+ Mercy. You can use the texture hud in the fatpack for base colors and several cool patterns. The top is mod, so I edited it for a burgundy color with the nice heavy metal looking pattern. The shredded pants also have texture options, I used the worn version.  ...This style of pant look great with big stompers so I paired with the Cult Obsidian boots.   ... Romance is rocking a messy mullet by Dura U136. It comes in several color packs, I used Light. The hair is not rigged so you use the hug to adjust the fit and edit it. I added the hair the U135 for extra Romance style lengh in the back. Perfect match! In the raw image below you can see the hair without the longer lower end.   ...Also in the closeup image below, I included the gold version of the Auto Stellar Nose Chain. It comes in silver, black, and gold. It's mod, so you can adjust the fit.   ...How about that awesome Ghoul Tail by The Deadboy? It automatically BOM fits your skin texture. For me it auto added the Fishnet detail! You can adjust in the hud the transparency of the skin, the cartoon outline colors for the bones and the tail, or hide the parts you don't want to show.  ... Adding his trademark heart theme is the Heart Dermal Piercings by Stoic. They are mod so you can adjust the size and placement by hand.   ....Adding more gothic punk style, are the BOM upper Fishnet by AsteroidBox, and lower an old favorite by Sna@tch that closely matches the style of the upper.

On him, DJ Romance:

Hair: Dura - U136 -ALL-Men's, Light [mesh](Midnight Order)(390L)

Top: Dope+Mercy - Offcut Harness Top, LEGACY [mesh](Midnight Order)(300L)

Pants: Dope+Mercy - Offcut Trousers, LEGACY [mesh](Midnight Order)(350L)

Tail: The DeadBoy - Ghoul Tail [mesh](Midnight Order)(899L)

Nose Chain: AURO - Stellar Nose Chain, BLACK [mesh](Midnight Order)(299L)

Hair lower: Dura - U135-Light [mesh]

Piercings: STOIC - HEART DERMAL PIERCING SILVER [mesh]

Boots: CULT - Obsidian Male - Legacy Male [mesh]

Fishnet upper: AsteroidBox - Shredded Nets - Black Plain [BOM]

Fishnet lower:  Sn@tch - Fishnet Tights Torn [BOM]

Head: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky :

Midnight Order: The Mystery of J-Rock Band ONI

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Dear dark hearted readers of Midnight Magazine, this intrepid reporter has sad news to report today. Despite my relentless efforts to get the scoop from the mysterious founder of the j-rock band ONI, Raven was very skilled at dodging my questions! The nerve! Are the rumors right? The band's spooky stage makeup is anything but fake?

Wow this was fun to put together. You guys don't know this, but the j-rock band ONI is a story I've been developing for several years. In my time away from SecondLife, I wrote more adventures for the guys, and used ai to create character chatbots. It was so cool to piece together a visual kei look for Raven from the insane amount of coolness at Midnight Order. 

The gorgeous static wings are by MDN and come in light and dark textures. ...The Ghost Mage Hands are by AII as well as the Demonic Touch claws. The Ghost hands come in static poses and Animesh plus a wealth of texture options. ...Speaking of awesome, the Deadboy Narius tongue is fantastic. It works perfectly with the Lelukta head, and comes with texture options, piercing options, static poses and animations. It's the best I have seen in SL!  ....Raven is wearing the Isel top by Ersch. It has a lot of textures that are flat colors, but also patterns! It comes with a small snake that wraps around your shoulders. ...The lace gloves are one part of a full Kyra outfit by Buffy's that comes in fits for men and women. The fatpack includes a lace version that looks unlike any lace I have see in SL before. (PBR reflection is great!) ...Mythic eyes are by TEETH, and the spider chest tattoo is a gift at the Midnight Order event by BADA.

On him, Raven of j-rock band ONI:

Top: ERSCH Isel Top, LegacyM, blue snake pat inserts [mesh](Midnight Order)(299L)

Wings: MDN Seraph's Chains Wings Fatpack, Chains [mesh](Midnight Order)(588L)

Tongue: The DeadBoy Narius Tongue (Bento)[mesh](Midnight Order)(699L)

Eyes: TEETH [T] Mythic Eyes, Blue (BOM)[mesh](Midnight Order)(350L)

Gloves: BUFFY'S Kyra, Legacy M. Ath [mesh](Midnight Order)(777L)

Ghost hands: {Aii} Ghost Mage Hand [mesh](Midnight Order)(1000L)

Tattoo: BADA tattoo gift (BOM)[mesh](Midnight Order)(gift)

Hands: {Aii} Demonic Touch - bom/all parts, Legacy M [mesh](800L)

Hair: RavenBell Oni Hair, For horns, fantasy [mesh](350L)

Horns: taikou oni horns [mesh](gift)

Collar: Cruel Sulfur Gorget, Legacy M [mesh](100L)

Guitar: [sau] Dhalif's Guitar 2 [mesh](60L)

Lips: violetta lip concealer, EvoX [BOM](198L)

Tattoo: Nuuna Forehead fades 1 Blue [BOM](past gift)

Head, piercings: LeLUTKA Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)
Body: TheShops [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: Asphyxia Electric Guitar 01 Bento Pose (99L)

BONUS IMAGE: inworld raw shot, midday sky

Necrotize: The Pest Patrol

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Lieutenant Gooch was a hired mercenary for a very dirty job, -- the Pest Patrol for the Scheol Nebula Outpost 943. He threw the last noxious alien egg he found on the ground. The slime was all over this fingers. He angrily tried to wipe it off and called his commanding officer. “If you send me on one more damn mission investigate space herpes, I quit!" A faux friendly voice responded, "Buddy..., buddy, calm down. You’re not the first solider who threatened to desert, why do you think we took your passport? No passport, No travel." Gooch roared and threw his communicator against the brick wall with such force, it shattered on impact. He sunk down in the chair, defeated. "This is bad.” The strange purple egg at his foot began to vibrate and shake. He looked down and saw seams on the slimy thing begin to split open. “VERY bad.”

Continuing in my mini series for Necrotize, Gooch was inspired by Cyber Goth and Aliens elements. The Raxlas back claws are bento by DeadBoy and have a texture hud. The gasmask by Psycho Byts  also includes a texture hud with many options to change the look of the mask. The shoulder armor by Dreamcatcher non-rigged and mod and you can change the texture of the metal and blood. And once more I am using the fun Petrichor Syrre eyes that have great alien type textures. In the setting is the Level 9 Xino Helmet that really change its colors and looks from Xenomorph, to Squid Game, to Oni or Samurai. And the eggs are by Torment which come with a little alien inside and textures options. If you haven't been to Necrotize yet, hurry hurry. It will be ending this weekend!

On Him, Lieutenant Gooch:

Appendages: The DeadBoy Raxlas Claws Bento [mesh](Necrotize)(450L)
Facemask: PSYCHO:Byts PAZUZU RESPIRATOR [mesh](Necrotize)(350L)
Shoulder pads: DREAMCATCHER Necromancer's shoulder pads [mesh](Necrotize)(299L)
Eyes: Petrichor :[P]:- Syrre Eye v.1.2 [mesh](Necrotize)(399L)
Pants: RIOT Birds of Prey pants black [mesh](past gacha)
Gloves: Contraption Dapper Dandy's Gloves [mesh](350L)

Top: Contraption Roamer's Top SUNDOWN [mesh](350L)
Hair: No_Match NO.LIME male [mesh](200L)
Boots: Lapointe Bastchild L&B Malefit Swear Patrol Combat Boot [mesh](849L)
Skin: Kooqla Knight of Rose - silver (990L)
Eyelid: Izzie's Eyelid Changer Monolid [BOM](149L)
Tattoo: Izzie's Neck Blender 01 [BOM](149L)
Head: LeLUTKA lel EvoX KANE 3.1 [mesh](3990L)
Pose: [3M]**_chair5_1 (40L)

Set:
Helmet: Level 9 Xino Helmet [mesh](Necrotize)(500L)
Eggs: torment bilu egg [mesh](Necrotize)(100L)
Chair: 22769 ~ [bauwerk] Un hommage a HR Giger [mesh](395L)

Skybox: ANTINATURAL[+] Post-Human Meeting Point [mesh](past gacha)

Thanks for your help Aarya!